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Potpourri of chops...

107K views 200 replies 22 participants last post by  Michael Carmichael 
#1 ·
I still haven't really had much time to do new chops, but going into the archives, which you haven't seen at
this site anyway, i came up with these. enjoy.

these first chops are FoMoCo products, including Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda
and Aston Martin (well, it was Ford owned when i did it...)


I was always a fan of the Notchback Mustang. This would be a 500KR version. i heard the 2010 was going to have
'hips' so i added them to this chop. it turns out the real 2010 isn't all that hippy, lol. i like them on this car though.


this Falcon would be a sedan version of the Escape, much like Subaru made a sedan of the Outback for a while.


this is a rwd economy car, the Pinto II. i was actually in the rear seat of a '76 Pinto Runabout when we were in
a chain-reaction collision, #3 of 5 cars, being hit in the front and the rear.... no fire, no explosion, no injuries.
i still look back with fondness at Pintos and Mavericks. chop based on the Fiesta, but with less front overhang
and rwd proportions.


über luxury sedan based on the MKR concept


a smaller than Milan sedan, the Comet. this is a couple of years old, so i used the Milan instead of the euro Mondeo,
but i think this makes a nice American compact. probably really nice for 2006, lol. i didn't know Ford would make
a hybrid of the Milan back then though. predictable I guess.


the return of the macho car pickup....


an alternative to the little suicide door RX8, the 2 door coupe.


the current Aston body with a more Virage-like greenhouse and hatchback


Some 'other' cars, sadly not made by FoMoCo. Hope no one minds : )



2 versions of Chevy Bel Air full size coupe. with the upcoming Cadillac CTS coupe's fastback, i thought Chevy
could pull off a similar look. Years ago in Harley Earl's time, the Chevrolet was often styled to be the 'small Caddy.'
i used a flying buttress roof, much used in Chevy's past. (the gold logo is reversed in the front-end shot, but it's a
Chevy so I left it, Monday car, heh heh. )


a reborn Tucker based on a Toyota Hybrid concept car.... tiny tongue-in-cheek chop with lots of retro cues.


a flagship sports coupe for Buick, based on their most recent (but too tall) Riviera concept.


a Continental of another sort... the Bentley 5 door-regal swiftness with utility.


a classic original edition Saab 92, but with the top chopped. i sent this to a friend in the UK and he wants to build one,
but the originals are VERY few and far between and he and his wife just had a baby so it is going to stay a chop...
i do like the polished alloy cowl/windshield frame I gave it, a la Rolls Royce these days....


a sleeker 5 door hatch by Maserati for those high-speed runs on the Cote D'Azur. room in the back for a few
crates of vino and a couple of cannoli.


i sent a few chops to Mark Stehrenberger once, just for the heck of it. i never expected a reply, but he emailed me back
in about 15 minutes! he liked this one especially. Stehrenberger has been my idol in this field since the early '70s.
to hear from him was awesome, and to be praised by him REALLY awesome.
 
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#152 ·
in the best of all possible worlds, i think they should share understructures, but have different skins and names suited to their home markets... as a sign of committment and support to global markets. everyone likes to feel 'special' even it's just in their choice of cars. with the economies of scale for all the parts you don't see, and keeping the car's hard points, i think they could differentiate them for different global markets...

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times... but i think Ford is going to come out on top.
 
#153 ·
you mentioned the original Sable... remember how futuristic and optimistic the design of the original Sable was? that wraparound green house and front lightbar, were just so startling at first. they are all cues that could be used today though, with today's stance and detailing.
 
#154 ·
^ YUP :)
tho I'm not sure space-age is the best styling for today's consumers (I base this partially on home decor, where so many people live in the 18th-19th centuries)
unless it's snuck up on...
...a neighbor has a well-kept Intrepid that looks sooooooooo up-to-date style-wise to My Eyes --
yet my taste isn't very mainstream...


&
in the best of all possible worlds, i think they should share understructures, but have different skins and names suited to their home markets... as a sign of committment and support to global markets. everyone likes to feel 'special' even it's just in their choice of cars. with the economies of scale for all the parts you don't see, and keeping the car's hard points, i think they could differentiate them for different global markets...
imho Fomoco NEEDS to adopt a uniform style Temporarily
just to 'prove' the One Ford theorem
also think global style can work everywhere Just NOW - - tho that won't last, imho
Believe we (the planet) are in a coming-together phase ...for good or ill
and will move to a more individualistic (perhaps nationalistic) phase in just about time for the next-next product cycle (Ford is nothing if not supremely LUCKy lately imho)
 
#155 ·
Ok, so not to be rude, but this is my least favorite of your chops. My biggest problem is surprisingly the wheels. Mercury should not have double 5-spoke wheels. They give off a vibe of being fast. Multi-spoke (6+) wheels are more commonly seen on Euro-influenced cars, and make for a more luxurious statement. I definitely think that if Mercury were to pick a competitor, it would be Buick, and styled like a Buick, not a rice-burnt Corolla.

Again, this isn't meant to be mean. But this is most definitely not where Mercury is heading in terms of style. I still love your designs though. Keep going!
 
#156 ·
hey guys,
wanted to let you know that art has had his chops featured at the AutoExtremist again
www.autoextremist.com/on-the-table1/
autoextremist said:
Publisher's Note: Our friend "art and colour" is at it again this week with more of his visionary and at times wonderfully whimsical digital illustrations. Given all of the hand-wringing going on with the latest (and hideous) design fad raging through the industry - the 'tall' wagon masquerading as four-door coupe (BMW 5 GT & X6, the Honda Crosstourer & Acura ZDX, etc.), "art" mashed together the Acura and the Aztek for 'Pontiac's Last Hurrah' as he calls it. "art" also presents his ideas for a Lynx based on a stretched Fiesta, a Milan Coupe called the San Marino, and a Mercury entry aimed at the China market. Enjoy! - PMD
 
#157 ·
thanks 2b2!

i've been playing around with older cars again-thinking about what Exner might have done in a 'perfect' world, for a few of them, for example. enjoy!



this is a '62 Fury i found online. it was a 2 door post sedan, and i created this pillarless coupe. i loved Exner's last production cars, hobbled as the production versions were with committee-think and awkward packaging. i love this chop, lol.



from the same '62 model year, this is the Dodge version of Ex's last hurrahs. this one didn't quite come out as i wanted it to. i might look for another decent resolution photo of this model and try again. i love the body shapes and proportions of these smaller than fullsize Plymouths and Dodges, but the marketplace didn't. Engel was called in to replace Exner and he made short work of clearing out most of Ex's ornate details within a few years. Engel (of '61 Lincoln fame) created some great Chryslers of his own, not to denigrate him. the three little chrome hash marks near the headlights are actually modified trim units from a '64 Mercury. what i was trying to do was emphasize the long hood/short deck, and 'motor boat' rising cowl of these mopars. the separate fender sculpting was cleaned up of extraneous trim etc to emphasize those cool features, all early retro classic touches.



this is a cleaned up version of a '65 Imperial Crown Coupe. i changed the roof and painted a lot of its chrome body color to emphasize the great sculpting and body lines. i made it more of a 2 door limousine, not a common bodystyle! the house is a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Arizona i found online. True class all the way around...
 
#160 ·


much like the Passat 4 door coupe is still named Passat but with CC added on, this is the new 4 door coupe Mercury, the Milan Sable. the car would be Milan based, but with all upscale features, including perhaps the hybrid drivetrain. this chop is pretty much a 'tweakage,' the roof is lowered, the DLO is now a 6 window type, and the doors are my A&C specialty 'suicides...' you'll also notice the avant garde addition of black plastic C pillar trim, facilitating a wraparound effect, just like the new Jaguar XJ. i predict they might become the new 'Bangle Butt' that everyone loves to denigrate at first, but which becomes almost ubiquitous in a few years...

along with the wider taillights, the wraparound effect is meant to evoke the original Sable. the rear Mercury logo is much larger and more prominent-a new family feature on all new Mercurys, along with a clearly labled model name below it on a brushed aluminum molding.
 
#161 ·


much like the Passat 4 door coupe is still named Passat but with CC added on, this is the new 4 door coupe Mercury, the Milan Sable. the car would be Milan based, but with all upscale features, including perhaps the hybrid drivetrain. this chop is pretty much a 'tweakage,' the roof is lowered, the DLO is now a 6 window type, and the doors are my A&C specialty 'suicides...' you'll also notice the avant garde addition of black plastic C pillar trim, facilitating a wraparound effect, just like the new Jaguar XJ. i predict they might become the new 'Bangle Butt' that everyone loves to denigrate at first, but which becomes almost ubiquitous in a few years...

along with the wider taillights, the wraparound effect is meant to evoke the original Sable. the rear Mercury logo is much larger and more prominent-a new family feature on all new Mercurys, along with a clearly labled model name below it on a brushed aluminum molding.
art, I think you've got a MAJOR IDEA that has been spread over several chops now (just repeating 2 of them here)
&
just maybe I've had an idea that can fit into it...
...a half-height flying buttress
It's a bit of tunnel back but might combine with the wraparound rear windshield (leave room for it) by only going as high as the lower part of the hofmeister kink - but running all the way aft to the TLs
(maybe could 'support' a breezeway too?)
hope this made sense - think I still have an old sketch but no scanner :(
 
#162 ·
i like it! i'll see if i can work it into something soon. i've always loved the flying buttress look on cars. the X100 of '69 with the flat black rear trunk treatment extending up to the flying buttresses, is one of my all time favorite cars. it's definitely my favorite genre of cars-large, powerful luxury sport coupes or sedans. not über sedans, i don't need 500+ hp, just a responsive and luxurious drive in a beautiful sporty car that seats 4 in full luxury...
 
#164 ·


starting out this morning with a couple of tweaks of the new SLS Gullwing. the first is the South Beach Edition, which comes in metallic gold with a revised window graphic and additional straking on the headlights and B/C pillar. there would be an inset black glass panel extending over the B/C pillar, but would not actually be a window. there would also be an additional black grated vent for interior airflow. the pillar strakes reach out and overhang the rear window a few inches.

the second chop is the new 'kinder, gentler, supercar' the SLH-the 6 cylinder hybrid version. for this one, i shortened the wheelbase by 6-8 inches in front of the side vent. this is due to the shorter engine bay needs for the hybrid drivetrain, and for sheer ease of driving-shortening the turning circle and restoring proportions back to something a bit more 'normal.' in this one, i took OFF the strakes, cleaning up the body considerably, and adding an alloy rocker panel treatment, which could perhaps become a hybrid trait for MB. the B/C pillar has a real window now, evocative of the original 300SL gullwing.

 
#165 ·
your BelAir looks more like a Buick to me, art - that's a good thing nowadays, right? ;)
...something about the roof/C-pillar says Riviera to me :confused:
&
OF COURSE, *LOVE* the SLS-AMG chops
:) :)
in fact I got quite inspired - LINK/shameless-plug

truly I'm very grateful for these for, in addition to their beauty, I never saw/heard-of the SLS before :eek:
 
#166 ·
I like the Lincoln Premiere. I loved the MKR Concept and I like your evolution of that design. I do think that the three level taillight treatment is a little over the top (I think a slightly enlarged single treatment based on the MKR Concept would do the trick), but I love the rest of the chop that you submitted. I also like the fact that you used an actual model name instead of the MK(?) silliness that Lincoln currently employs. I really wish that Lincoln and Cadillac would both revert back to actual model names.

I like the Ranchero chop that you submitted. I'm normally not a fan of car based trucklets, but your chop made a believer out of me. I would actually consider purchasing one if it looked as sharp as your chop.

I like the Buick Wildcat too. It's sharp. I realize that "Wildcat" is a classic Buick name, but I think it's a bit too old school for the modern auto market. I think "Bengal" (a name used on a Buick roadster concept) would be appropriate for this car.

Overall, you do great work and it was fun to view your ideas and talent.
 
#167 ·
I just checked out some of the other pages of this thread. You are one talented dude!

Some of my favorites:
* Lincoln MKC coupe.
* Lincoln Town Car.
* Version of Ford Thunderbird with the classic C-pillar design. Ford should really consider this one as a limited edition model. It's sharp!
* Mercury San Marino coupe.
* Buick Regal coupe.
* Ford Futura coupe.
* Pontiac LeMans sedan.
* Pontiac Star Chief sedan.

Keep up the good work!
 
#169 ·
^ that's very nice looking lil' car, art :)
but I'm not familiar with it, would you please post a Link to your donor - not at all sure what was changed
&
Have you seen spypix of the Chinese MG6?


&
this is timely for me - thinking about 'scale' for designs -
and if would it be a good thing to have a styling dna that could/would be used for many "sausage lengths" or not :confused:
(will be posting a pair of quickie chops for this question when I figure out which thread, new or old, to use
 
#172 ·
yeah, i love playing with proportions like that in photoshop. it's a good, fast way to see how a chop might work out before doing too much 'real' work to it, lol. sometimes you can see that it's not going anywhere, but this Hyundai i think worked out pretty well. it has a look of a smaller Lexus IS too, although not rwd.
 
#173 ·
first up is a new version of the small Mazda, the Mazda3 LX/H. it's my idea that LX/H would become a sub brand, like 'speed' is for the sports Mazdas, hence there might be Mazda6 LX/H,too. LX stands for a car with most luxuries standard, like the panoramic roof, sat/nav, leather/aluminum/alcantara interiors, and the H is, of course, hybrid power. Mazda would have several dedicated hybrids, with an almost RWD-like look to their wheelbase proportions. front overhang would be shorter, signifying the smaller petrol engines, but the wheelbase would be longer in the cowl area, for the compact lithium/ion battery pack behind the transmission for good weight distribution. the cars would have slight design changes from their gas counterparts too, like this 3's wrapped rear hatchglass and modified front grille treatment.


original photo:


next up is my Kia AktivKoup, the hatchback version of the Koup. now don't get me wrong, i don't think there is anything wrong with the real Koup at all, this chop isn't to 'fix' anything on it, just give another bodystyle. the C pillar is a different shape, with a wider rear window that now lines up with the taillight angle, allowing the new hatch cutline to flow uninterrupted. i've added some rocker panel brightwork, and there is now a chrome handle for the hatch, to ease opening and closing without needing to touch the paint work.


original photo:
 
#174 ·
The front of your Mazda is very attractive imho, art
tho the rear window seems a bit 'French' to me.
Wonder if Mazda will ever get into Hybrids...
...appreciate your including your ideas on the H & LX models

I *like* pix of the Koup (haven't seen one in RL yet)
but their tv commercial,
"Half Rocket Scientist, half SuperModel"... makes me think of
the looks of ^^ & the brains of ^^

really wish Fomoco would start offering more body styles - I'd think with the increasing computerization of manufacturing that it'd become easier & more affordable.

ps Thanks for including the originals
 
#175 ·
2b2-your last point is one of my biggest pet peeves about cars today-the lack of bodystyles. through the years of the Model A, '28-'31, i believe it was offered in close to 20 bodystyles! throughout the history of the car, many multiples of bodystyles were offered by the automakers. it wasn't unusual to have several 2 doors, several different 4 doors, wagons, roadsters, convertibles etc. i'm not saying we need to be that 'crazy' these days, but if they could introduce a car in the '30s in 15 bodystyles, without the use of CAD/CAM etc, why do we only have 4 door sedans for the most part now? you'd think it would be easier and perhaps even less expensive to create additional bodysides, and you can't tell me that additional bodystyles wouldn't create extra sales and demand! my dad almost always bought 2 doors back in the day, and only switched to 4 doors when coupes started disappearing in the early '80s, and he wasn't thrilled about it.

on top of 'that' peeve, why do we only have gray or black or beige interiors, and not even that choice on many cars? i came of age in the late 60s and 70s, and it wasn't unusual for even the bottom of the lineup to have a choice red/blue/green/white/black interiors... in fact, one of my favorite things to do as a child was get all the dealer brochures i could, and memorize the colors and options and interior choices etc. it took hours and hours, but i could do it today in about 5 minutes.

one last peeve.... colors and color names.... instead of light gray metallic, silver metallic and dark gray metallic, colors had great names like Flamingo Frost, Liberty Blue, Silver Mink, Tuxedo Black etc. when i design a 4 color book today, even though no one that buys the book ever sees my electronic files, i always give my color palette cool names like the car mfrs used to. it sets the 'tone' of the book for me, and is a little inside 'thing' for me to have fun with.

mini Andy Rooney rant over!
 
#176 ·
2b2-your last point is one of my biggest pet peeves about cars today-the lack of bodystyles. through the years of the Model A, '28-'31, i believe it was offered in close to 20 bodystyles! throughout the history of the car, many multiples of bodystyles were offered by the automakers. it wasn't unusual to have several 2 doors, several different 4 doors, wagons, roadsters, convertibles etc. i'm not saying we need to be that 'crazy' these days, but if they could introduce a car in the '30s in 15 bodystyles, without the use of CAD/CAM etc, why do we only have 4 door sedans for the most part now? you'd think it would be easier and perhaps even less expensive to create additional bodysides, and you can't tell me that additional bodystyles wouldn't create extra sales and demand! my dad almost always bought 2 doors back in the day, and only switched to 4 doors when coupes started disappearing in the early '80s, and he wasn't thrilled about it.

on top of 'that' peeve, why do we only have gray or black or beige interiors, and not even that choice on many cars? i came of age in the late 60s and 70s, and it wasn't unusual for even the bottom of the lineup to have a choice red/blue/green/white/black interiors... in fact, one of my favorite things to do as a child was get all the dealer brochures i could, and memorize the colors and options and interior choices etc. it took hours and hours, but i could do it today in about 5 minutes.

one last peeve.... colors and color names.... instead of light gray metallic, silver metallic and dark gray metallic, colors had great names like Flamingo Frost, Liberty Blue, Silver Mink, Tuxedo Black etc. when i design a 4 color book today, even though no one that buys the book ever sees my electronic files, i always give my color palette cool names like the car mfrs used to. it sets the 'tone' of the book for me, and is a little inside 'thing' for me to have fun with.

mini Andy Rooney rant over!
The (or a) problem limiting the number of bodystyles available from individual manufacters is the number of manufacturers there are today. There are so many more available choices these days of certain body styles that (I assume) makes certain body styles not financially feasible as they'd sell so few of them it wouldn't be worth it.

Also, it can be said that there are many different body styles available - just not in the market (or same exact type of "different body styles") you want: crossovers. Think of it - Ford will have the Edge and Explorer covering the midsize segment, while the Flex and Explorer also cover the large segment. I know it's not quite the body styles type you were thinking of, but that's where all the investment that could be put into coupes, verts, etc. is going.

Also going against coupes and converts are the fact that other manufacturers have tried and unsuccessfully - Toyota Solara is one example. I just don't think the coupe/vert market is that big any more. While sure, they're great to the enthusiast, they're not as desired by the public.

--

Same theory applies to the interior colors - the take rate on "different" interior colors such as blue, green, red, etc. would be so low, it wouldn't be worth it to make the production investment. Besides, I don't think I'd be able to stand a strange interior color like that all the time....

--

Ford's using some interesting color names - Tuxedo Black, Dark Ink Blue, Light Ice Blue, Candy Apple Red, Neural Neutral, Platinum White, Steel Blue - they're better than "blue metallic," "black metallic," etc. anyway...
 
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